The Catholic Church's refusal to contemplate the advocacy of condoms as a response to AIDS is immoral, argues Fiona O'Malley
There is no doubt but that the involvement of the Catholic Church in the developing world is well intentioned. The church has done more than any other single organisation - with the possible exception of the UN - to tackle illness, disease and famine in the developing world. Yet the behaviour of the Catholic Church has in many instances exacerbated and held back the fight against the spread of HIV-AIDS.
The developing world is being ravaged by the spread of HIV and AIDS through the population. The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) State of the World Population 2003 report, launched in Dublin two weeks ago, describes AIDS as a disease of young people.
The report states that, fuelled by poverty, gender inequality and a severe lack of information and services, half of all new HIV infections occur among young people aged 15-24, and an estimated 6,000 young people a day become infected with HIV and AIDS - that's one every 14 seconds. AIDS has the capacity to wipe out a huge proportion of the new generation. Half-measures will no longer suffice. The world is facing a major global catastrophe, and to tackle it effectively we must transcend our own belief systems and use strategies and means that are proven to be effective barriers against the spread of the virus.
Having travelled to South America and Africa with the UN, I can attest to the good work the Catholic Church is doing on the ground in the areas of health and education. Frequently, missionaries constitute the only healthcare network available to people in remote areas, and their importance cannot be overemphasised.
As was pointed out in a recent Panorama documentary, with such a framework in place the Catholic Church has the capacity to be on the front line in the fight against the spread HIV and AIDS, but because of its opposition to the use of condoms an important opportunity to contain the disease is being lost.
More dangerously, the church's position on contraceptives has involved peddling lies about the efficacy of condoms in preventing the spread of the HIV and AIDS virus. The church is serving no one when its crusade against the use of contraceptives includes the dissemination of scientifically inaccurate information on the effectiveness of condoms.
Why does the Catholic Church refuse to accept the veracity of the World Health Organisation (WHO), the leading authority on matters of medical science in relation to the effectiveness of condoms in preventing the spread of the HIV virus? It's one thing to object to the use of condoms, another entirely to lie to a vulnerable group about effective prevention and by so doing expose them to a deadly virus.
The Panorama documentary showed Cardinal Alfonso Lopez Trujillo, president of the Pontifical Council on the Family, stating that condoms do not protect against the transmission of HIV, and that the church advises against people with HIV wearing condoms.
Religion and spirituality play an influential role in African and South American society. People unquestioningly believe the church's teachings, and that is why its message about condoms is both irresponsible and dangerous.
The influence of the Catholic Church on sexual health issues is not unique to the developing world. Here in Ireland, where the rate of HIV and AIDS has increased by 20 per cent over the past year, we cannot afford to be complacent or to continue to pursue the "sex is wrong" approach to sexual health. In a letter to this paper a reader was critical of my role in highlighting the rise in the rate of HIV and AIDS in this country, and particularly for failing to note that the rise was largely among the non-national population.
What does it matter what nationality a person is? If AIDS is on the rise among the population in Ireland then social policymakers must adopt strategies which will deal with its prevention and deliver a coherent safe-sex message.
The church has long promoted abstinence as the most effective measure in response to HIV and AIDS. This is irrefutable. But how practical is it? Promoting abstinence on its own will not solve the Aids pandemic. Abstinence is an ideal. It also fails to deal with the fact that a significant proportion of new infections are a result of prostitution or sexual violence.
All international agencies including the UN and the WHO are agreed that when condoms are properly used, in conjunction with programmes encouraging abstinence and fidelity to one partner, they provide effective protection against HIV and AIDS transmission. Religion must not be permitted to confuse that message.
Political leadership also has a vital role to play. I was pleased to see Brian Cowen, in his address to the 2003 United Nations General Assembly meeting on HIV and AIDS, commit to put the fight against AIDS on the agenda during Ireland's presidency of the European Union next year.
I hope the Government will deliver on this commitment. It is imperative that Ireland, which has led the way in increasing government aid to the UNFPA over the past few years, maintains and deepens its role in supporting sexual health programmes during this period.
Resolute political leadership, combined with a commitment from the Catholic Church to accept the science in relation to AIDS and the use of condoms, will go a long way to stem the spread of this disease.
Fiona O'Malley is PD TD for Dún Laoghaire